Bernie Loomis: The Toy Maker

The man whom shaped my playtime. 

I was recently working on a marketing research assignment, the subject involved marketing and children. I personally cannot think about this topic without thinking about Bernard Loomis. Not much is available online about him but he was the master of marketing to children.

He was the man that developed the concept of using an animated series to market toys, producing full lines of toys as appose to individual product, and producing toys based on film and TV licenses. During his tenure, Mattel, Kenner, and Hasbro all became the worlds largest toy company. “In 1985, Douglas Thomson, president of the Toy Manufacturers of America, said in an interview with The New York Times, “He's probably the most astute man in the industry for the selection and marketing of products.”

One of his most quoted statements is; "The trouble with research is it tells you what people were thinking about yesterday, not tomorrow. It's like driving a car using a rearview mirror," and "We'd have a great world if real evil took the beating it gets on Saturday morning."

Fanatic Voyages First Commercial

I know I'm biased but this is the greatest commercial ever. It has a puppet for Peter Parkers sake. May he rest in peace. Please watch and leave a comment, I'd really appreciate it.

Loot Crate

Loot Crate unboxing is a Geeky family event for us
Once a month my wife, daughter, son and I gathers together for a family event referred to as the "unboxing", this is the day our Loot Crate arrives. For those that are unfamiliar, Loot Crate is the cool version of the fruit of the month club. Each month we receive a themed box filled the most awesome geeky goodies. Exclusive Funko Pop figures, a Tribble, the coolest t-shirts, Deadpool socks, Alliance Currency from Firefly just to name a few of my favorite things we have received. It is like having a friend with the best taste and access to exclusive items sending you a present every month. For $13.37 (get it, leet)+s&h or less you get at least $40 worth of stuff. You can join here. Each month, I will post our unboxing and share pictures of our incredible Loot.

Join Loot Crate Now!!!

Cosplay is not Consent

At New York Comic Con, one of the key themes this year seemed to be inclusion. The comic convention scene has definitely evolved from the long box filled conference rooms at the local airport hotel attended only by teenage boys and men you would not trust alone with your teenage boy. I say this as one of the teenage social outcasts that would race home to reread my comics and dream of the one day I could finally talk to a girl. The attendees of New York Comic Con were the most diverse group of individuals I’ve seen at any event and part of what makes that possible is the sense of community between the fans of all pop culture genres.

This years New York Comic Con featured the campaign “Cosplay is not Consent” and a revised zero-tolerance policy for harassment. This campaign was born due to a subset of the geek culture primarily male that weren’t treating their fellow attendees with the respect they deserve. In an effort to detour this behavior the “Cosplay is not Consent” campaign emphasized everybody’s rights to enjoy the convention without being touched or photographed without consent. In previous years cosplayers have reported being harassed, photographed inappropriately and even groped. No one deserves to be treated this way and Fanatic Voyages commends New York Comic Cons and other conventions efforts in putting a stop to it.

Conventions are for building community and campaigns like “Cosplay is not Consent” are essential to building a community in which everyone feels welcome. The image above was create by Amy Reeder more information about her work can be found here 

Fanatic Voyages Revived

Just like Jean Grey being reborn as the Phoenix, this site is being revived.

After a long hiatus, I am excited to announce planning for Fanatic Voyages first official trip has begun. We are not ready to release details just yet but believe me you will want to be the first to know. Until then we will have new content including local store reviews and more. So make sure you keep coming back and follow us on Twitter.

SONICBOOMBOX Afterparty

This is my wife and myself at the New York Comic Con after-party presented by SONIC BOOM BOX and sponsored by incredible geek companies like Funko, Lootcrate, and Twitch. It was an incredible night and a highlight of our NYCC experience. I's also like to thank Evilgeeks.com for the picture.

The Secret Stash

This is me in front of Kevin Smiths comic book store, the home of the AMC show Comic Book Men and the podcast Tell Em’ Steve Dave. This was our final stop on a impromptu trip to New Jersey initiated by the postponement of Boston Comic Con due to the Boston bombing. That is an interesting story for another time. For any geek this store definitely holds a special place in their top ten lists of stores to visit.

I made sure to pick up some signed comics and a signed DVD, a shirt, and few other trinkets to remember the trip. I was able to meet Mike before he became the megastar partner to podcasting superstar Ming Chen. Sorry, just listened to Tell Em’ Steve Dave and felt the urge for some mild Ming bashing. The highlights for me were seeing the Buddy Christ status and the poker table the guys record the podcast at.